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Motormouth From Ipoh

Friday, April 18, 2008

Sincero Wine & Dine, Ipoh

A sudden urge to indulge, plus the temptation to feast with some old frens led us to a crossroad of decisions. Should we go to Denis Jazz Bistro for some traditional English pies and chops? Or would we rather visit Kampai for their great value Japanese Bento? Hmm, decisions, decisions ...


In the end, KCA suggested Sincero, a restaurant-cum-bar that we had intended to visit since aeons ago, but never did due to various reasons. Hey, why not? Parking's a breeze, and we were dressed up to the nines (or rather, in work clothes, but hey, still smart ma) anyway. FYI, previously they upheld a strict dress code, no slippers and shorts allowed in the premise. Wow, probably that was what scared us. We expected sky-high prices for typical fine dining joints. But oh boy, were we wrong ...
Chicken soup for some poor souls ...
From 12-3.30pm every weekday, they serve set lunch, from RM10.90 onwards. Yes, from the interior, you would expect high end pricing, (sorry photos of the seating area cannot be published to protect the innocents, =P) but instead, the sets are priced moderately, with RM14.90 being the most 'expensive' ones.

... matched with yummy toasted garlic bread

We were served the soup-of-the-day, cream of chicken, with freshly toasted garlic bread. Though a bit salty, the toast was buttery, crispy at sides, with pieces of REAL garlic sprinkled on top. The soup was creamy, not too rich, with strips of chicken meat, and some vegetables (probably celery). A good starter. But, wait .... that was NOT the only starter?

Oh, another appetizer? Gr8!!

Moments later, we were served with a plate of salad each. Hey, TWO appetizers? Fresh vegetables (but the carrot strips were slightly dry) drenched in thousand island dressing cannot go wrong.

Spaghetti Amatriciana (RM14.90 per set)

My spaghetti arrived first, pardon the dark, blurry photos as the interior is quite dimly lit, and you know how 'reliable' handphone camera is. I think it is Amatriciana, as I browsed through the menu, and this was what the waiter showed me. With LOTS of beef bacon slices, generous sprinkled with parmesan cheese, and garnished with mushrooms and capsicums, the spaghetti was done al dente, and the portion was BIG. Delicious.

Vegetarian Pizza (RM14.90 per set)
KCA ordered the pizza set, and the pizza of the day was Vegetarian. Though may sound lacklustre on paper, the pizza came with thin dough, the way pizzas should be, and garnished liberately with olives, onions, capsicums, and lots of mozzarella cheese. Perfect as a snack, and served its function as a main.

Mongolian Lamb Cutlets (RM14.90 per set)

TallGal and KYT ordered the same set of Lamb Cutlets, served with spaghetti (same variety with mine) and mashed potatoes. The serving was a bit small though. Drenched in black pepper sauce, the lamb was tender, with minimal chewy parts, but the gravy was a tad salty. KYT commented that his spaghetti was overcooked, rendering the noodles tougher than ideal.

Fish & Chips (RM12.90 per set)

FCOE and LWK ordered fish and chips, served cutlet-style, with the same sides as the lamb. Tried a piece, and the fish was fresh, succulent and devoid of mud smell. Probably dory fish, but quite tasty.

Dilmah Oolong Tea?? (dun mind the fat fingers, that's KYT's ... hehe)

One thing I forgot to mention was that we were served a soft drink each, complimentary as welcome drink, and at the end of our meal, we were given options of coffee or tea. Strange combination of Coke and coffee I know, and would be glad if they change the welcome drink to dessert instead. The coffee was a bit too strong, definitely for coffee-lovers, but KCA had fear of palpitation (read:rapid heartbeat), and left most of her cup unattended. (One nice touch was that we were given white and brown sugar to choose from, and fresh milk as well). The rest had tea, and it came in a pot.

Total bill for 6 came to RM98 including 10% service charge and 5% gov tax. The place was quite empty, as from the outside, it was pretty difficult to ascertain whether they were open or not.

Location : 2, 2A & 4,4A, Jalan Medan Ipoh 6, Bandar Baru Medan Ipoh, 31400 Ipoh. Tel : 05-5485720. Specifically, it is a corner lot facing Tesco hypermarket, opposite 1919 Restaurant and back-to-back with Nasmir Nasi Kandar. They have a bar that serves various cocktails as well.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

So there's some hit and misses lah. Maybe when I pay them a visit, I shall go for a la carte dishes.

And you've been touring all over Perak! Shall we appoint you as the Perak food ambassador? ;)

Elin Chia said...

Hi! Thanks for ur valuable info. I stayed near Tesco yet haven't been to Sincero. Thought it must be quite pricey there but since you have enlightened us...sure will make a trip there. Looks yummY from ur photos. :) Looking forward to many more of ur sharing on ur food adventure trip (",)

J2Kfm said...

jason : the set menu is worth it la, go for them if possible. but only on weekdays.

elinluv : welcome! do provide feedback ok? let's review more nice (and not so nice) Ipoh places.

Anonymous said...

quick question - would recommend this place placing more emphasis on taste of course...

J2Kfm said...

taste wise? hmm, tough call.
compared to Citrus, of course paled. but been to Sincero only once, and the experience was so-so.

go for their set lunches IF they still have them.

Muse Princess said...

hey i'm curious...
do they only serve food like this during the day?
what about at night?

~Jeannie~

J2Kfm said...

hi Muse Princess, the last time we went, they serve set lunches mostly, not sure about ala carte.
but come night time, they have an ala carte menu, with quite a large number of entrees.

Muse Princess said...

i see....
well...
my father's 50th coming up and he likes steak mainly.
anywhere in ipoh you can recommend that is reasonable yet good?

J2Kfm said...

Muse Princess : in fact Sincero has an outlet at Sunway City, next to Unique Seafood. but rather pricey and food not up to par.

Citrus Wine & Dine is good, never tried the steak, but other stuff's good. but ranging from about RM25 onwards per main.

Brewster's in Old Town, some claim good, but I've tried once and so-so only.

Maria's Cafe's steaks supposedly the best previously, not very sure as I seldom opt for steak when I dine.

as for Indulgence, I'm sure it;s far from affordable. David's Diner serves steak as well, and at rather reasonable price, but I've went twice for lunch, one time bad, one time good. so gotta gamble bit?

Anonymous said...

i think without a doubt best steak in Ipoh has to be Maria's. My criteria for a good steak is simple - good meat, good chips and mustard/bernaise. Here are my reasons why:

1) choice of steak - You get a choice of Aus, US, Aberdeen Angus, Wagyu (in 2 grades) and various cuts too. Most other places offer Aus and Wagyu beef.

2) Chips - big fat chips, not shoe string pansy schmancy fries. You have to ask for it at Maria's but they do the best chips of them all. Runners up goes to citrus which do good wedges which are i suppose healthy chips.

stay away from Brewster's... they can't cook to safe their life. You can read more about it on my blog (http://genuiness.wordpress.com). Worst food I've ever eaten in my life.... and that includes really shit cafeteria food I put up with everyday.

J2Kfm said...

thanks genuiness, couldn't be any clearer.
now u made me crave for a good steak. so Maria's the best in Ipoh? :)

bet Ms Tan's gonna be joyful when she read this. ahhaha ...

Muse Princess said...

woo.... thanx J2Kfm & thanx genuiness.
so now its down to Maria's and Citrus i supoose.
Thanx again.... =)
oh, one last question.
Heehee....
how's the price in Maria's?
Above RM 30? RM 40 per main?

Anonymous said...

Well... Maria's is good for 2 things - steaks and pies. Outside that, I can't think of another reason why I would go there. Its just unfortunate that a true steakhouse is not a feasible venture in Ipoh (and Malaysia). How I would love to hv a restaurant which serves 20 different types of steaks.

Muse Princess said...

thanx for all the tips and recommendations guys.
fyi, i eventually went to Maria's and their lamb shank is good... =)
my dad thinks so too, which is mainly the point. heehee...

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